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Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy

Purpose: This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, quality of life, and family functioning in a sample of the general female population, exploring difficulties encountered in managing family and work responsibilities and burden of care when taking care of a loved...

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Autores principales: Giusti, Laura, Mammarella, Silvia, Del Vecchio, Sasha, Salza, Anna, Casacchia, Massimo, Roncone, Rita
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10668961/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37998639
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs13110892
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author Giusti, Laura
Mammarella, Silvia
Del Vecchio, Sasha
Salza, Anna
Casacchia, Massimo
Roncone, Rita
author_facet Giusti, Laura
Mammarella, Silvia
Del Vecchio, Sasha
Salza, Anna
Casacchia, Massimo
Roncone, Rita
author_sort Giusti, Laura
collection PubMed
description Purpose: This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, quality of life, and family functioning in a sample of the general female population, exploring difficulties encountered in managing family and work responsibilities and burden of care when taking care of a loved one. This study was, moreover, aimed at investigating factors capable of influencing severe depressive symptomatology in the context of socio-demographics, traumatic events, individual vulnerability, and family functioning. Method: The sampling method used in this research was non-probability sampling. The survey took place during a Hospital Open Weekend (8–10 October 2021) organized by the National Gender Observatory on Women’s Health “Fondazione Onda” on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day. Results: A total of 211 women were interviewed (mean age = 35.6, 53% living alone, more than 15% with financial difficulties, 47% exposed to the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake). More than 50% of the sample reported a higher complexity in managing their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to their previous routine, with no statistically significant differences between working women and non-workers, although the latter obtained higher scores for depressive symptomatology and poorer quality of life. Compared to non-caregivers, female caregivers (22.3%) in charge of the care of loved ones affected by physical (10.9%) or psychiatric disabilities (11.4%) complained of a poorer quality of life, especially in general health perception (p = 0.002), physical function (p = 0.011), role limitations related to physical problems (p = 0.017), bodily pain (p = 0.015), mental health (p = 0.004), and social functioning (p = 0.007). Women caring for people affected by mental disorders seemed to experience a more significant worsening in vitality (p = 0.003) and social functioning (p = 0.005). Approximately 20% of the total sample reported severe depressive symptomatology. Previous access to mental health services (O.R. 10.923; p = 0.000), a low level of education (O.R. 5.410; p = 0.021), and difficulties in management of everyday lives during the COVID-19 pandemic (O.R. 3.598; p = 0.045) were found to be the main variables predictive of severe depressive psychopathology. Old age, good problem-solving skills, and ability to pursue personal goals were identified as protective factors. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic underlined the need for support amongst emotionally vulnerable women with pre-existing mental health conditions, partly reflecting the cumulative effects of traumas.
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spelling pubmed-106689612023-10-29 Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy Giusti, Laura Mammarella, Silvia Del Vecchio, Sasha Salza, Anna Casacchia, Massimo Roncone, Rita Behav Sci (Basel) Article Purpose: This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, quality of life, and family functioning in a sample of the general female population, exploring difficulties encountered in managing family and work responsibilities and burden of care when taking care of a loved one. This study was, moreover, aimed at investigating factors capable of influencing severe depressive symptomatology in the context of socio-demographics, traumatic events, individual vulnerability, and family functioning. Method: The sampling method used in this research was non-probability sampling. The survey took place during a Hospital Open Weekend (8–10 October 2021) organized by the National Gender Observatory on Women’s Health “Fondazione Onda” on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day. Results: A total of 211 women were interviewed (mean age = 35.6, 53% living alone, more than 15% with financial difficulties, 47% exposed to the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake). More than 50% of the sample reported a higher complexity in managing their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to their previous routine, with no statistically significant differences between working women and non-workers, although the latter obtained higher scores for depressive symptomatology and poorer quality of life. Compared to non-caregivers, female caregivers (22.3%) in charge of the care of loved ones affected by physical (10.9%) or psychiatric disabilities (11.4%) complained of a poorer quality of life, especially in general health perception (p = 0.002), physical function (p = 0.011), role limitations related to physical problems (p = 0.017), bodily pain (p = 0.015), mental health (p = 0.004), and social functioning (p = 0.007). Women caring for people affected by mental disorders seemed to experience a more significant worsening in vitality (p = 0.003) and social functioning (p = 0.005). Approximately 20% of the total sample reported severe depressive symptomatology. Previous access to mental health services (O.R. 10.923; p = 0.000), a low level of education (O.R. 5.410; p = 0.021), and difficulties in management of everyday lives during the COVID-19 pandemic (O.R. 3.598; p = 0.045) were found to be the main variables predictive of severe depressive psychopathology. Old age, good problem-solving skills, and ability to pursue personal goals were identified as protective factors. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic underlined the need for support amongst emotionally vulnerable women with pre-existing mental health conditions, partly reflecting the cumulative effects of traumas. MDPI 2023-10-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10668961/ /pubmed/37998639 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs13110892 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Giusti, Laura
Mammarella, Silvia
Del Vecchio, Sasha
Salza, Anna
Casacchia, Massimo
Roncone, Rita
Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy
title Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy
title_full Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy
title_fullStr Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy
title_full_unstemmed Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy
title_short Deepening Depression in Women Balancing Work–Life Responsibilities and Caregiving during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Gender-Specific Face-to-Face Street Interviews Conducted in Italy
title_sort deepening depression in women balancing work–life responsibilities and caregiving during the covid-19 pandemic: findings from gender-specific face-to-face street interviews conducted in italy
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10668961/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37998639
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs13110892
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